Amnesty International has issued this statement (originally an Al Jazeera op-ed) on Uganda's government's resistance to the decision of the Supreme Court on the use of military courts to try civilians. It's about suppressing dissent. Excerpt:
Following the court order and widespread outcry, Besigye and Lutale were transferred to a civilian court on February 21. Besigye called off his hunger strike. They remain in detention, as does their lawyer. However, their transfer without release, in a process begun by an illegality, remains flawed. Despite the transfer of their case, scores of more civilians have their cases still pending before military courts, with little hope that they will be transferred to civilian courts.
For this reason, 11 groups including Amnesty Kenya, the Pan-African Lawyers Union, the Law Society of Kenya, the Kenya Human Rights Commission and Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) call for their immediate release.
As Uganda approaches elections, it is evident that the military courts are now a tool in President Museveni’s shed for use to silence dissent. It is time for Uganda to heed the Supreme Court ruling – for now though, military justice is on trial, too.
Meanwhile, a High Court judge has released on bail a civilian who had been in detention for 1500 days pending trial in the country's court-martial on a murder charge. Details here.
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